Most Southeast Asian stock markets fell on Friday but notched up gains on the month, with trading remaining subdued due to caution about global central bank policies but positive corporate earnings lifted select regional stocks. Asian shares edged higher and were on track for their biggest monthly rise since January 2012, as global central banks kept stimulative policies intact and many hinted at further steps to re-energise their economies.
Singapore's key Straits Times Index erased most early losses and ended the day down 0.1 percent. It was up 7.4 percent in October, the first monthly gain in six. Trading volumes fell to 84 percent of a 30-day average, similar to regional peers.
Vietnam was an outperformer on the month with a gain of nearly 8 percent after two straight losing months. Indexes in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand all ended the month higher after several months of losses while Malaysia posted gains for a second successive month in October.
Among the bright spots, Singapore's United Overseas Bank shares rose 1.5 percent after the bank posted a 1 percent drop in third-quarter net profit but beat expectations on higher interest rate margins and one-off gains from the sale of investment securities.
Vietnam's benchmark VN Index ended up on Friday, marking its biggest monthly percentage gain since January 2014, buoyed by positive corporate earnings. Vietcombank, the country's second-biggest firm by market value, advanced 2.14 percent on expectations of upbeat quarterly results, analysts said.
The index rose 0.36 percent to 607.37. For the month, it gained about 8 percent, the highest since January 2014.
Dairy products maker Vinamilk dropped 0.84 percent on profit-taking after hitting a record high on Thursday. The company reported a 55 percent jump in third-quarter net profit on Thursday. The VN Index could face a correction next month before recovering in December, BIDV Securities said in a note to clients.
Comments
Comments are closed.